


Sweaty Rooms

by iktwabrokenbone (apiculteur)



Category: Bandom, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ballet, Dancing Lessons, M/M, Taco Bell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-11
Updated: 2014-08-11
Packaged: 2018-02-12 18:58:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2121069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apiculteur/pseuds/iktwabrokenbone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Josh wants to learn ballet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sweaty Rooms

**Author's Note:**

> i procrastinated for so long just not writing any more of this and its like half the length i thought itd be but w/e its done. also fun fact i thought taco bell had waiters for some reason idk why but i was convinced til i was like 'woah waiters at a fast food restaurant why' and had to rewrite a bit.
> 
> tbh its becoming more difficult to choose titles from songs than to come up with an original title but ive already committed to this way of life im not stopping now so title from where did the party go from fob

To be honest, Josh had more spare time than he knew what to do with. He did a lot of drumming, played with a couple of bands, stepped in on short notice when someone's drummer got sick before a show, but he was still left with more time just thinking up things to keep himself entertained than he wanted. He had finished three series on Netflix already, and he was having trouble finding more things to watch.

So he whined about it to Hayley, and she gave him a completely unimpressed look, and said, "Take up a hobby or something." When he said he couldn't think of any hobbies, she sighed heavily and told him to do dance.

Josh sat up instead of slouching on Hayley's couch. Hayley did ballet at some studio about twenty minutes drive from his house, and he had been wondering about starting to do ballet after he saw one of her shows, but forgot a few days after he came up with the idea. "Hayley, I wanna do ballet."

"Awesome," she said, though Josh was pretty sure she was paying more attention to the TV. She looked at him a few seconds later, when it got to the ad break, and said, "Do you want me to hook you up with a guy? Since you're starting kind of late, you should probably get one-on-ones for a while."

"Dude, that'd be great." He leaned across the couch to place a quick kiss on her forehead then grin, crinkle-eyed and slightly exaggerated, before standing up. "I gotta head back. Call me about the ballet instructor later, yeah?"

She nodded, giving him a wave as he left.

***

Hayley called him up the next day, telling him that her friend Tyler had some free lessons, and give Josh his number so he could book a time. He ended up booking a time at eleven in the morning, every Saturday. A part of him tried to protest, telling him it would be too early, but it'd be good, really. He had to work to convince himself of that.

It was Friday when he realised he had no idea what he should wear for it. He didn't own a leotard, or any other fancy ballet stuff. He called up Hayley.

Apparently, a tank top and basketball shorts would do, with bare feet since he didn't have any ballet shoes. And he should bring lots of water. He tried not to be intimidated by it all, and only kinda succeeded.

It wasn't until the morning before his first ballet lesson that he got nervous, and kinda wanted to back out, because he would be _terrible_ , and his instructor would be so much better than him. It took him a few panicked minutes to realise that was the _point_ , and they wouldn't be a very good ballet instructor otherwise.

Regardless of how he felt at times, he ended up standing outside the dance studio, mentally preparing himself for it. He wondered if he'd be the only male ballerina, if people would judge him, then realised he wouldn't care.

He walked in, and approached the receptionist. "I've, uh, got a lesson booked?" he said, and thought he probably should've asked Hayley what the instructor's name was. Too late now.

"And what's your name?" the receptionist asked, a polite smile on her face.

"Uh, Josh Dun."

"Oh. You've got a lesson booked with Tyler. He'll be in the studio down the hall, second door on the right. Have a nice time."

Josh nodded, and started off towards there. He was wearing the tank top and basketball shorts, as recommended by Hayley, and maybe questioning whether or not that was really what he should be wearing. He reached the room too quickly to get that anxious about it (he shouldn't be getting at all anxious about it, he was just going to get taught how to dance).

A man, about Josh's age, was taking a drink from a bottle of water. He was wearing leggings with skulls on them, a tight white shirt, and black ballet slippers. When he noticed Josh, he smiled and waved, walking towards him. "Hey, I'm Tyler. You're Josh, right?"

Josh nodded. "Yeah. Nice to meet you."

Tyler glanced down at Josh's feet. "Since you don't he any ballet shoes, you can borrow my spare pair. We've probably got the same size feet..." Tyler trailed off, trying to find something before spotting a large black bag in the corner of the room. Josh wasn't sure how he had missed it, but he was dashing towards it now, rummaging around before pulling out some shoes matching his. "Shoes!" he announced.

As Josh slipped them on, he looked up at Tyler. "Aren't these usually all silky and pink?" he asked, because he'd assumed that'd what he would wear, not black leather.

"Silk wears down really quickly, so they're only for shows," Tyler said. "Leather is best for beginners, you usually buy canvas slippers like this a bit later."

Josh nodded, trying to remember everything he was taught. He was pretty sure he would forget half of it by the end of the lesson, but whatever. "Makes sense," he said, standing up. He felt ready to do ballet, if he just ignored his gym shorts.

Tyler smiled. "You ready?"

"Sure."

***

As expected, a large portion of the lesson was forgotten almost instantly- he remembered none of the barre exercises, and he was sure he had forgotten more things, but, well, he couldn't remember what they were- but he did manage to retain some information. He remembered all of the first five positions, and an exercise called the pas de chat. He felt like a real ballerina.

Hayley helped him a bit outside of lessons, reminded him of the things he'd forgotten, helped him practice, corrected his posture, and when him and Tyler became buds, he would go over to his house to hang out and practice a bit. He was doing pretty well really- both Hayley and Tyler told him so- but he just _couldn't_ remember to point his toes. Every single time, he would remember to point his toes at the start of the lesson, forget, get reminded, then rinse and repeat.

He had been doing it for three months now, and he still couldn't remember. He was determined to get it right, though, because the longer he continued to do it, the harder it would be to get rid of the habit. For the most part, they were just trying to iron out how he kept forgetting to point his toes, learning a few more basic moves, the like.

Which, really, it was great, but now Tyler had more faith in him, wouldn't watch him like a hawk the whole lesson- and that was all fine- but it meant that sometimes he would turn around to get a drink or something from his bag, or take off his shirt if he was too hot from dancing, and it was really distracting. Josh was spending far too much time staring at Tyler's ass, and his tattooed chest. He was having to tell himself that he wasn't paying Tyler so he could stare at him, he should treat him with the respect he deserved.

To an extent, it work. In that he still ended up staring at Tyler, but he forced himself to focus on dancing whenever he caught himself, and felt guilty.

Tyler was shirtless again, and Josh was still insistently forgetting to point his toes, so Tyler walked up towards him. Josh was posed ready to start the pas de chat again, not paying as much attention to what he was doing, and Tyler crouched in front of him, grasping one of his feet and guiding it through the first movement for the pas de chat.

"You gotta keep pointing your toes, Josh," he said, sounding very serious but with his lip twitched up, like he wanted to do some sort of very stern scolding but couldn't keep a straight enough face.

Josh was a bit too busy trying not to blush to formulate a response apart from, "Will do, Sir." He got more kicks out of calling Tyler 'Sir' than was reasonable. Smiling, Tyler stood up and gave Josh a shove.

When he did the pas de chat, he kept his toes pointed all the way through, which wasn't that amazing or unusual in and of itself, but the fact that he continued to do so for the rest of the lesson was. It was probably stupid, but Josh couldn't help but think it was because of Tyler. Correlation isn't causation, he thought.

He hugged Tyler before he left, because they were buds, and he was feeling proud of himself. If Tyler noticed him sniffing his neck- Josh knew it was strange but he smelt of vanilla and sweat, and it was _good_ on him- he didn't mention it, and if he had, Josh would've said he was pretending to be Hannibal Lecter. That was all there was to it.

***

Josh _finally_ had the pointed toes thing down, after only a little over two months. Tyler grinned.

"Dude, we should celebrate," Tyler said. "I have two hours free before my next lesson, and Taco Bell's open."

Tyler was quite possibly perfect in every way. "Yeah, sounds sick."

They ended up sitting at a table in Taco Bell, talking and trying to throw fries into each other's mouths, for almost all of Tyler's break. There were a few middle-aged customers glaring at them, because Josh's hair was dyed and he had expanders: two clear signs of delinquency. They weren't deterred, and bought five portions of fries before one of the workers- very politely- kicked them out.

"I love Taco Bell so much, man," Josh sighed, shaking his head. He felt vaguely like throwing up after eating too much, and he told Tyler this.

"Sometimes the ones we love the most hurt us," he said, trying once again for seriousness. He wasn't very good at keeping a straight face, even when he told really lame jokes.

Josh laughed. "You're adorable," he said. It wasn't by accident, hadn't slipped past his brain-to-mouth filter, but he did instantly regret saying it, because he wasn't sure how Tyler would take it.

He blushed. "Thanks, bro."

Okay, so his use of 'bro' didn't really support Josh's theory that Tyler really had a crush on him too, but, well, he was cute, and if he pushed Josh away, that would be fine, they could just forget about it. He leaned in, and pressed a kiss to his lips. It was meant to be brief, there and gone almost too quickly, but Tyler placed a hand on his jaw, not holding him there, but asking him to stay. He did stay, kissed Tyler until he jerked away, eyes wide, and Josh felt hurt and confused, but he just said, "Oh, man, I should be at the studio like... five minutes ago."

Josh relaxed his shoulders, relieved that Tyler hadn't very suddenly changed his mind about Josh. He was pleased he hadn't, because whilst it was a good kiss, Taco Bell flavoured kisses weren't the best. "Oh. Bye."

Tyler nodded, smiling apologetically. "Come over to my house at seven?" he asked.

"Yeah."

Tyler pressed a kiss to Josh's nose then sprinted away, towards the studio. Josh watched him run until he turned a corner, then headed back to his apartment. It would be even harder not to stare at Tyler during lessons, and now he would have to resist making out with him too. Dating Tyler Joseph would be a struggle, but so worth it. Becoming a ballerina was one of his best choices ever.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading. comments and kudos would be hella.


End file.
